Analysis

• The insurance asset management gold rush

  15 March 2017

  Enticed by lucrative revenues, insurers are pushing into the asset management business like never before. Insurer-affiliated managers are currently some of the fastest growing in the world. With regulations and low rates driving increased insurer third-party asset outsourcing, the industry is in a prime position to pick up more business. Sarfraz Thind reports

  

• Premiums 4 Good: QBE's unique approach to responsible investment

  10 March 2017

  Insurance Asset Risk this month will feature a number of analysis and thought leaderships on responsible investment. In this article, Tom Herbstein and Andrew Voysey from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership discuss QBE's initiative that allows its customers to have up to 25% of their premiums invested responsibly.

  

• Insurers need to heed their own ESG experience when investing

  08 March 2017

  Jessica Ground, global head of stewardship at Schroders, argues insurers are a natural fit for ESG investing – if they can harness pricing expertise on the investment side.

  

• UK student loan book: a political risk worth taking?

  03 March 2017

  The UK government has structured a tranche of the 2002 to 2006 student loan book to make it attractive to insurance investors. Insurers are wary of political risks, however. Callum Tanner reports

  

• Is the relationship between insurer and asset manager facing disruption?

  01 March 2017

  The relationship between asset manager and insurer could be entering a new era, as WTW attempts to bring investors and managers into a single marketplace via its Asset Management Exchange. Asa Gibson talks to the man hoping to create the Amazon of investment, Oliver Jaegemann.

  

• The machine learning revolution

  24 February 2017

  Machine learning is seen as the next stage of evolution in the asset management world. While still in its infancy, asset managers are examining how to use machines in everything from investment making to operational efficiency. So will it really change the way that insurers invest? Sarfraz Thind reports

  

• ESG investment: the bleeding edge?

  17 February 2017

  Responsible investing is increasingly mentioned in the investment process, and insurers certainly wear their ESG principles as a badge of honour. But, despite the talk, does ESG really influence investment policy? Sarfraz Thind reports

  

• Hot property: ground rents

  15 February 2017

  Ground rents offer insurers a way to diversify their real asset portfolios, with a low risk profile and relatively attractive yields. But market access and Solvency II treatment are significant barriers. Asa Gibson reports.

  

• Investing where the wind blows

  08 February 2017

  Allianz's in-house alternative asset manager has closed four tax equity investments in US wind farms in only 12 months, and plans more in 2017. Head of renewables at Allianz Capital Partners David Jones talks to Asa Gibson about the firm's American wind expansion.

  

• Top 10 ideas for insurance CIOs

  03 February 2017

  Mercer's global insurance investment team has picked out ten initiatives to help chief investment officers navigate a changing landscape and bolster existing operations. Asa Gibson reports